At the 13th Irena Assembly, members confirmed their readiness to fully support the UAE’s COP28 Presidency by establishing the latest knowledge on the renewable-based energy transition and leveraging the international cooperation through the Agency’s global platform. Building a common understanding about what the roadmap to 2030 must look like is critical to drive a global energy agenda.

Short-term actions must be given top priority to urgently accelerate the energy transition in the coming years and course correct the 1.5 deg C pathway to 2050. This is the message sent by energy leaders from the Assembly during discussion on “World Energy Transition – The Global Stocktake.”

Energy leaders from governments, private sector and international organisations provided insights on priority actions needed over the next few years, given the 2030 timeline for halving emissions and achieving the sustainable development goals. Discussions concluded that:

•The world is not on track to reach climate and development goals and is even regressing in some instances. Action cannot be delayed and must be taken with already available solutions.

•While every country is different, each must find a way to balance national priorities with short- and long-term goals to accelerate the world’s nationally driven actions.

•The Global Stocktake is an important process. What is equally important is to find common agreement on the global priorities after COP28 in Dubai.

• Irena remains the global energy transitions platform to drive action at faster pace.

Francesco La Camera, Irena’s Director-General, said: “Although energy transitions are progressing around the world efforts must be accelerated, while ensuring that benefits are evenly spread across countries and communities. International cooperation will play a vital role in ensuring that all countries have an opportunity to accelerate the deployment of climate-proof technologies and secure the needed investment to achieve their goals. Irena’s membership offers a unique platform to drive a global energy agenda at COP28 and beyond.”

Energy has an outsized impact on the delivery of climate action. Irena’s World Energy Transitions Outlook lays out a direction to stay on the path to 2050. It stresses that staying on this path depends on sufficient action by 2030 and shows that the technologies to make such progress already exist.

The Outlook positions efficiency and electrification as primary drivers, enabled by renewable power, green hydrogen, and sustainable modern bioenergy. Crucially, it places significant focus on policies and socio-economic implications to provide the necessary nuance for diverse circumstances of individual countries and regions.

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